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Jeremiah 15-17
New King James Version
Jeremiah 15-17
New King James Version
The Lord Will Not Relent
15 Then the Lord said to me, (A)“Even if (B)Moses and (C)Samuel stood before Me, My [a]mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. 2 And it shall be, if they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you shall tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord:
(D)“Such as are for death, to death;
And such as are for the sword, to the sword;
And such as are for the famine, to the famine;
And such as are for the (E)captivity, to the captivity.” ’
3 “And I will (F)appoint over them four forms of destruction,” says the Lord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag, (G)the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 I will hand them over to (H)trouble, to all kingdoms of the earth, because of (I)Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.
5 “For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?
Or who will bemoan you?
Or who will turn aside to ask how you are doing?
6 (J)You have forsaken Me,” says the Lord,
“You have (K)gone backward.
Therefore I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;
(L)I am [b]weary of relenting!
7 And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land;
I will (M)bereave them of children;
I will destroy My people,
Since they (N)do not return from their ways.
8 Their widows will be increased to Me more than the sand of the seas;
I will bring against them,
Against the mother of the young men,
A plunderer at noonday;
I will cause anguish and terror to fall on them (O)suddenly.
9 “She(P) languishes who has borne seven;
She has breathed her last;
(Q)Her sun has gone down
While it was yet day;
She has been ashamed and confounded.
And the remnant of them I will deliver to the sword
Before their enemies,” says the Lord.
Jeremiah’s Dejection
10 (R)Woe is me, my mother,
That you have borne me,
A man of strife and a man of contention to the whole [c]earth!
I have neither lent for interest,
Nor have men lent to me for interest.
Every one of them curses me.
11 The Lord said:
“Surely it will be well with your remnant;
Surely I will cause (S)the enemy to intercede with you
In the time of adversity and in the time of affliction.
12 Can anyone break iron,
The northern iron and the bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as (T)plunder without price,
Because of all your sins,
Throughout your territories.
14 And I will [d]make you cross over with your enemies
(U)Into a land which you do not know;
For a (V)fire is kindled in My anger,
Which shall burn upon you.”
15 O Lord, (W)You know;
Remember me and [e]visit me,
And (X)take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In Your enduring patience, do not take me away.
Know that (Y)for Your sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Your words were found, and I (Z)ate them,
And (AA)Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.
17 (AB)I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers,
Nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone because of Your hand,
For You have filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my (AC)pain perpetual
And my wound incurable,
Which refuses to be healed?
Will You surely be to me (AD)like an unreliable stream,
As waters that [f]fail?
The Lord Reassures Jeremiah
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
(AE)“If you return,
Then I will bring you back;
You shall (AF)stand before Me;
If you (AG)take out the precious from the vile,
You shall be as My mouth.
Let them return to you,
But you must not return to them.
20 And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze (AH)wall;
And they will fight against you,
But (AI)they shall not prevail against you;
For I am with you to save you
And deliver you,” says the Lord.
21 “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.”
Jeremiah’s Lifestyle and Message
16 The word of the Lord also came to me, saying, 2 “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them and their fathers who begot them in this land: 4 “They shall die (AJ)gruesome deaths; they shall not be (AK)lamented nor shall they be (AL)buried, but they shall be (AM)like refuse on the face of the earth. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their (AN)corpses shall be meat for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.”
5 For thus says the Lord: (AO)“Do not enter the house of mourning, nor go to lament or bemoan them; for I have taken away My peace from this people,” says the Lord, “lovingkindness and mercies. 6 Both the great and the small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried; (AP)neither shall men lament for them, (AQ)cut themselves, nor (AR)make themselves bald for them. 7 Nor shall men break bread in mourning for them, to comfort them for the dead; nor shall men give them the cup of consolation to (AS)drink for their father or their mother. 8 Also you shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink.”
9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, (AT)I will cause to cease from this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of [g]mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
10 “And it shall be, when you show this people all these words, and they say to you, (AU)‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ 11 then you shall say to them, (AV)‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ says the Lord; ‘they have walked after other gods and have served them and worshiped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law. 12 And you have done (AW)worse than your fathers, for behold, (AX)each one [h]follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me. 13 (AY)Therefore I will cast you out of this land (AZ)into a land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods day and night, where I will not show you favor.’
God Will Restore Israel(BA)
14 “Therefore behold, the (BB)days are coming,” says the Lord, “that it shall no more be said, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ 15 but, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the (BC)north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For (BD)I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers.
16 “Behold, I will send for many (BE)fishermen,” says the Lord, “and they shall fish them; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks. 17 For My (BF)eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes. 18 And first I will repay (BG)double for their iniquity and their sin, because (BH)they have defiled My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable and abominable idols.”
19 O Lord, (BI)my strength and my fortress,
(BJ)My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and (BK)unprofitable things.”
20 Will a man make gods for himself,
(BL)Which are not gods?
21 “Therefore behold, I will this once cause them to know,
I will cause them to know
My hand and My might;
And they shall know that (BM)My name is the Lord.
Judah’s Sin and Punishment
17 “The sin of Judah is (BN)written with a (BO)pen of iron;
With the point of a diamond it is (BP)engraved
On the tablet of their heart,
And on the horns of your altars,
2 While their children remember
Their altars and their (BQ)wooden[i] images
By the green trees on the high hills.
3 O My mountain in the field,
I will give as plunder your wealth, all your treasures,
And your high places of sin within all your borders.
4 And you, even yourself,
Shall let go of your heritage which I gave you;
And I will cause you to serve your enemies
In (BR)the land which you do not know;
For (BS)you have kindled a fire in My anger which shall burn forever.”
5 Thus says the Lord:
(BT)“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes (BU)flesh his [j]strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
6 For he shall be (BV)like a shrub in the desert,
And (BW)shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
(BX)In a salt land which is not inhabited.
7 “Blessed(BY) is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
8 For he shall be (BZ)like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not [k]fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
9 “The (CA)heart is deceitful above all things,
And [l]desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the Lord, (CB)search the heart,
I test the [m]mind,
(CC)Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
11 “As a partridge that [n]broods but does not hatch,
So is he who gets riches, but not by right;
It (CD)will leave him in the midst of his days,
And at his end he will be (CE)a fool.”
12 A glorious high throne from the beginning
Is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, (CF)the hope of Israel,
(CG)All who forsake You shall be ashamed.
“Those who depart from Me
Shall be (CH)written in the earth,
Because they have forsaken the Lord,
The (CI)fountain of living waters.”
Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance
14 Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;
Save me, and I shall be saved,
For (CJ)You are my praise.
15 Indeed they say to me,
(CK)“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come now!”
16 As for me, (CL)I have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You,
Nor have I desired the woeful day;
You know what came out of my lips;
It was right there before You.
17 Do not be a terror to me;
(CM)You are my hope in the day of doom.
18 (CN)Let them be ashamed who persecute me,
But (CO)do not let me be put to shame;
Let them be dismayed,
But do not let me be dismayed.
Bring on them the day of doom,
And (CP)destroy[o] them with double destruction!
Hallow the Sabbath Day
19 Thus the Lord said to me: “Go and stand in the gate of the children of the people, by which the kings of Judah come in and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 and say to them, (CQ)‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the Lord: (CR)“Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 nor carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I (CS)commanded your fathers. 23 (CT)But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but [p]made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.
24 “And it shall be, (CU)if you heed Me carefully,” says the Lord, “to bring no burden through the gates of this city on the (CV)Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work in it, 25 (CW)then shall enter the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, accompanied by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever. 26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah and from (CX)the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from (CY)the [q]lowland, from the mountains and from (CZ)the [r]South, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, bringing (DA)sacrifices of praise to the house of the Lord.
27 “But if you will not heed Me to hallow the Sabbath day, such as not carrying a burden when entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then (DB)I will kindle a fire in its gates, (DC)and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be (DD)quenched.” ’ ”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 15:1 Lit. soul was not toward
- Jeremiah 15:6 tired
- Jeremiah 15:10 Or land
- Jeremiah 15:14 So with MT, Vg.; LXX, Syr., Tg. cause you to serve (cf. 17:4)
- Jeremiah 15:15 attend to
- Jeremiah 15:18 Or cannot be trusted
- Jeremiah 16:9 rejoicing
- Jeremiah 16:12 walks after the stubbornness or imagination
- Jeremiah 17:2 Heb. Asherim, Canaanite deities
- Jeremiah 17:5 Lit. arm
- Jeremiah 17:8 Qr., Tg. see
- Jeremiah 17:9 Or incurably sick
- Jeremiah 17:10 Most secret parts, lit. kidneys
- Jeremiah 17:11 Sits on eggs
- Jeremiah 17:18 Lit. crush
- Jeremiah 17:23 Were stubborn
- Jeremiah 17:26 Heb. shephelah
- Jeremiah 17:26 Heb. Negev
Jeremiah 15-17
New International Version
Jeremiah 15-17
New International Version
15 Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses(A) and Samuel(B) were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people.(C) Send them away from my presence!(D) Let them go! 2 And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;(E)
those for starvation, to starvation;(F)
those for captivity, to captivity.’(G)
3 “I will send four kinds of destroyers(H) against them,” declares the Lord, “the sword(I) to kill and the dogs(J) to drag away and the birds(K) and the wild animals to devour and destroy.(L) 4 I will make them abhorrent(M) to all the kingdoms of the earth(N) because of what Manasseh(O) son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
5 “Who will have pity(P) on you, Jerusalem?
Who will mourn for you?
Who will stop to ask how you are?
6 You have rejected(Q) me,” declares the Lord.
“You keep on backsliding.
So I will reach out(R) and destroy you;
I am tired of holding back.(S)
7 I will winnow(T) them with a winnowing fork
at the city gates of the land.
I will bring bereavement(U) and destruction on my people,(V)
for they have not changed their ways.(W)
8 I will make their widows(X) more numerous
than the sand of the sea.
At midday I will bring a destroyer(Y)
against the mothers of their young men;
suddenly I will bring down on them
anguish and terror.(Z)
9 The mother of seven will grow faint(AA)
and breathe her last.(AB)
Her sun will set while it is still day;
she will be disgraced(AC) and humiliated.
I will put the survivors to the sword(AD)
before their enemies,”(AE)
declares the Lord.
10 Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,(AF)
a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!(AG)
I have neither lent(AH) nor borrowed,
yet everyone curses(AI) me.
11 The Lord said,
“Surely I will deliver you(AJ) for a good purpose;
surely I will make your enemies plead(AK) with you
in times of disaster and times of distress.
12 “Can a man break iron—
iron from the north(AL)—or bronze?
13 “Your wealth(AM) and your treasures
I will give as plunder,(AN) without charge,(AO)
because of all your sins
throughout your country.(AP)
14 I will enslave you to your enemies
in[a] a land you do not know,(AQ)
for my anger will kindle a fire(AR)
that will burn against you.”
15 Lord, you understand;
remember me and care for me.
Avenge me on my persecutors.(AS)
You are long-suffering(AT)—do not take me away;
think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.(AU)
16 When your words came, I ate(AV) them;
they were my joy and my heart’s delight,(AW)
for I bear your name,(AX)
Lord God Almighty.
17 I never sat(AY) in the company of revelers,
never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand(AZ) was on me
and you had filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound grievous and incurable?(BA)
You are to me like a deceptive brook,
like a spring that fails.(BB)
19 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“If you repent, I will restore you
that you may serve(BC) me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman.(BD)
Let this people turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you a wall(BE) to this people,
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
but will not overcome(BF) you,
for I am with you
to rescue and save you,”(BG)
declares the Lord.
21 “I will save(BH) you from the hands of the wicked(BI)
and deliver(BJ) you from the grasp of the cruel.”(BK)
Day of Disaster
16 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “You must not marry(BL) and have sons or daughters in this place.” 3 For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:(BM) 4 “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried(BN) but will be like dung lying on the ground.(BO) They will perish by sword and famine,(BP) and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”(BQ)
5 For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity(BR) from this people,” declares the Lord. 6 “Both high and low will die in this land.(BS) They will not be buried or mourned,(BT) and no one will cut(BU) themselves or shave(BV) their head for the dead. 7 No one will offer food(BW) to comfort those who mourn(BX) for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console(BY) them.
8 “And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.(BZ) 9 For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds(CA) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride(CB) and bridegroom in this place.(CC)
10 “When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’(CD) 11 then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped(CE) them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.(CF) 12 But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors.(CG) See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts(CH) instead of obeying me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land(CI) into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known,(CJ) and there you will serve other gods(CK) day and night, for I will show you no favor.’(CL)
14 “However, the days are coming,”(CM) declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’(CN) 15 but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north(CO) and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’(CP) For I will restore(CQ) them to the land I gave their ancestors.(CR)
16 “But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them.(CS) After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt(CT) them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.(CU) 17 My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden(CV) from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.(CW) 18 I will repay(CX) them double(CY) for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land(CZ) with the lifeless forms of their vile images(DA) and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.(DB)”(DC)
19 Lord, my strength and my fortress,
my refuge(DD) in time of distress,
to you the nations will come(DE)
from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,(DF)
worthless idols(DG) that did them no good.(DH)
20 Do people make their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!”(DI)
21 “Therefore I will teach them—
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will know
that my name(DJ) is the Lord.
17 “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,(DK)
inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts(DL)
and on the horns(DM) of their altars.
2 Even their children remember
their altars and Asherah poles[b](DN)
beside the spreading trees
and on the high hills.(DO)
3 My mountain in the land
and your[c] wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,(DP)
together with your high places,(DQ)
because of sin throughout your country.(DR)
4 Through your own fault you will lose
the inheritance(DS) I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies(DT)
in a land(DU) you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
and it will burn(DV) forever.”
5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,(DW)
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.(DX)
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places(DY) of the desert,
in a salt(DZ) land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed(EA) is the one who trusts(EB) in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.(EC)
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought(ED)
and never fails to bear fruit.”(EE)
9 The heart(EF) is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 “I the Lord search the heart(EG)
and examine the mind,(EH)
to reward(EI) each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”(EJ)
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
and in the end they will prove to be fools.(EK)
12 A glorious throne,(EL) exalted from the beginning,
is the place of our sanctuary.
13 Lord, you are the hope(EM) of Israel;
all who forsake(EN) you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust(EO)
because they have forsaken the Lord,
the spring of living water.(EP)
14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;(EQ)
save(ER) me and I will be saved,
for you are the one I praise.(ES)
15 They keep saying to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it now be fulfilled!”(ET)
16 I have not run away from being your shepherd;
you know I have not desired the day of despair.
What passes my lips(EU) is open before you.
17 Do not be a terror(EV) to me;
you are my refuge(EW) in the day of disaster.(EX)
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,
but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
destroy them with double destruction.(EY)
Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy
19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,[d] through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem.(EZ) 20 Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem(FA) who come through these gates.(FB) 21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath(FC) day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.(FD) 23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention;(FE) they were stiff-necked(FF) and would not listen or respond to discipline.(FG) 24 But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy(FH) by not doing any work on it, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne(FI) will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.(FJ) 26 People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev,(FK) bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not obey(FL) me to keep the Sabbath(FM) day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire(FN) in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”(FO)
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 15:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Syriac (see also 17:4); most Hebrew manuscripts I will cause your enemies to bring you / into
- Jeremiah 17:2 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
- Jeremiah 17:3 Or hills / 3 and the mountains of the land. / Your
- Jeremiah 17:19 Or Army
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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